R.A.C.E. Rick and Cindy's Enterprise Inc

Hello Revdex.com,

I would like to report what I believe to be unethical business practices of the above referenced repair shop and its [redacted].

I made an appointment for Wednesday February 12th at Foreign Specialist and had my 2007 [redacted] 328i towed to them the evening before on Tuesday, February 11th to diagnose and quote a repair on my cars cooling system, and to diagnose a spongy brake issue. Wednesday afternoon around 3:30 PM I had not heard from [redacted], so I dropped by the shop to see if he had diagnosed the repair and he said yes he had not had a chance to add up the repair costs or to give me a call. He quickly worked up the repair order and stated the car does need an electric water pump and a lower radiator outlet sensor. In a previous conversation I stated to [redacted] if I have a bad water pump which I had suspected, to provide a price to replace the thermostat. The thermostat must be removed before the water pump is removed, and [redacted] repair manuals reflect both parts are notorious for failing after roughly 70,000 miles. [redacted] showed me a repair order and said the cost would be about $1,600.00. I immediately questioned the repair cost and his high labor charges because his work order estimate had at least an additional 2 hours labor at $115.00= $230.00 PLUS, to replace the thermostat plus the cost of the thermostat quoted at $126.00. The labor to replace the water pump was less than 3 hours at $115.00 hour and included the thermostats removal anyway. He then looked up this up in his computer to see if this is true and stated, "you are correct". He said he would re-write the repair work order to reflect the reduced labor cost.

Tuesday evening I sent an email to Foreign Specialist advising I want to decline the repairs because I felt the costs of repairs was excessive and I was not confident in his repair estimate and that I will pay him for his time to that point and I will have the car picked up by a tow truck. He asked why and I explained I was not comfortable with his extremely high charges for the repair and his pricing oversight on the labor. I explained to [redacted] I called [redacted] at the [redacted] dealership phone number [redacted] Thursday, February 13th, and he quoted me $1190.00 to replace the water pump, thermostat including draining, refilling and bleeding the cooling system. I also called [redacted] an independent [redacted] repair shop, and spoke with [redacted], phone number [redacted] and he quoted me $974.18 for the same job. I did not request pricing on the radiator outlet temperature sensor from the [redacted] or [redacted] due to the ease of replacing this part myself.

[redacted] at Foreign Specialist could not believe the [redacted] would be less expensive than his Independent Shop prices, nor did I and he said he will see what he can do, "he has to get into the car repair", and he will know more about the total pricing at that time. I was led to believe he would be as competitive as his competition. Friday afternoon [redacted] called and stated my car was ready and the invoice came out to $1,469.08 including taxes. The cost breakdown on the invoice shows $712.06 Parts and $665.72 LABOR ( Total labor cost divided by $115.00 per hour equals approximately 5 hours and 45 minutes. Plus $30.00 Supplies and $61.30 Taxes

I was very upset and disappointed when [redacted] failed to reduce his rates to more competitive pricing like he said he would. Again, he stated he could not believe he was more expensive than the [redacted] dealership. When I went to pay the repair bill I asked [redacted] if he would discount the invoice if I paid in cash and he said no, " I already deducted $60.00 from the work order." This is from the original $1,600.00 inflated repair order quote???

I strongly feel Foreign Specialist, [redacted] deceived me and deliberately overcharged me for the repairs even after I told him of his competitor's quotes, and he insisted I allow him to do the repairs because he knows, "his prices are competitive".